Montana grizzly killed after fatal attack on camper

Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Department workers had searched for the bear since it pulled a sleeping woman from her tent early Tuesday morning behind the post office in Ovando, Mont. Leah Davis Lokan, 65, a registered nurse and avid cyclist from Chico, Calif., died in the attack. Grizzly bear attacks on humans are rare—typically five or fewer are recorded per year in the United States—and they usually occur when people approach mothers with young or a bear with a fresh kill.

Was it the right bear? Federal wildlife workers said they are certain the bear matches tracks and video evidence from Tuesday. A necropsy and DNA analysis will confirm the animal’s identity and possibly reveal more information about why it attacked Lokan. Campsites in Ovando will remain closed until then. Wildlife officials only kill bears if they attack people unprovoked and pose a public risk. They lured this grizzly by using a baited trap near a chicken coop it raided earlier.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Reichard’s report on The World and Everything in It about a teenager who saved her dogs from a grizzly.